MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. The success of Russia’s military products in the Pacific Rim countries hinders the US’ efforts to consolidate its positions in the region, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"It is clear that the development of ties between Russia and the Pacific Rim states in the military-technical sphere hinders our American partners’ efforts to consolidate their military-political positions in the region. Unfortunately, we can’t but state that when countries opt for Russian military products for objective reasons, instead of American ones, Washington resorts to pressure and provocative statements aimed at painting a negative image of our country," she said.

Zakharova noted that a US Department of Defense official stated during his visit to Manila that further military-technical cooperation between the Philippines and Russia will hurt ally relations with the US. "He, in fact, thought fit to directly blackmail the Philippines. This rhetoric shows that the US is building up work to paint a negative image of military-technical cooperation with Russia," the diplomat noted.

"We regard this behavior as unacceptable and call for our American partners to use fair methods of competition," she concluded.